After losing Wednesday’s midweek contest against Georgia Tech with a final score of 2-1, No. 18 Auburn continues its Georgia stretch of road games with the SEC-opening weekend series against No. 19 Georgia starting on Friday, March 10, in Athens, Georgia.
Georgia Tech walked it off against the Tigers on Wednesday, with Reese Hunter hitting the game-winning home run for the Yellow Jackets, handing Auburn junior Shelby Lowe her second loss of the season in a relief appearance for starter Maddie Penta.
Penta shut down the Tech offense through the first five innings along with recording her 100th strikeout and counting of the season. After giving up her first earned run of the season in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lowe was brought into the game in relief of Penta and ended the scoring threat.
The Auburn bats were silenced by Georgia Tech’s pitching staff, only hitting two singles through the first five innings. Sophomore Jessie Blaine delivered the go-ahead home run in the top of the sixth inning, but the Tigers were unable to capitalize on opportunities with runners in scoring position later in the game.
After a midweek win on Wednesday against in-state rival Georgia State with a final score of 7-2, the Bulldogs are looking for revenge as they dropped two out of three to the Tigers last season at Jane B. Moore Field.
Continuing its powerful plate presence this season, Georgia added three more home runs to its SEC-leading total of 35 against Georgia State. With a four-run first inning, the Bulldogs ran away with the contest early.
The Bulldog pitching staff started the game off strong, with junior Madison Kerpics tossing three perfect frames to shut down the Georgia State offense.
Looking forward to the weekend series, the battle will definitely be at the plate for these two teams. Being first and second in nearly all batting categories in the conference, the game plan for both Auburn and Georgia will be which pitching staff can limit the offensive damage.
For Georgia, Kerpics recorded the lone win against the Tigers last season, handing the 2022 loss to ace Penta.
Senior Bulldog Sara Mosley is also going to be key for Georgia. Recording her sixth home run of the season on Wednesday, Mosley dealt serious damage to the Tigers last season in Georgia's lone win, totaling four RBIs and going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate.
Other important weapons for the Bulldogs will be graduate-student pitcher Shelby Walters, who has a staff-best ERA of 1.33 and leads Georgia with an 8-1 record on the season, as well as junior Jayda Kearney, who leads the Bulldogs in batting average (.419), home runs (eight) and hits (26).
With the imposing Georgia bats, this is the true test for the Tiger pitching staff. Besides Penta, Lowe and sophomore Annabelle Widra round out the trio of possible starters for the weekend. With a team ERA of 1.06, both Penta and Widra enter the weekend with perfect records.
Still recovering from last year’s injuries, Lowe might not start a game as she has been mostly used in relief this year. After seeing the righty Penta toss a fastball around 70 mph, having to face the lefty Lowe in relief, who is around five mph slower, has been an effective strategy this season.
Showing an impressive start themselves, the Auburn offense needs to come out strong against a Georgia staff that has struggled with giving up walks (50) and has a 2.10 ERA.
Friday’s first pitch will be at 5:30 p.m. CST and will be streamed on SEC Network+. Saturday’s game on SEC Network will begin at 11 a.m. CST, and the series will conclude with Sunday’s 1 p.m. CST contest on SEC Network+.
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Emily Porch is a senior from Sylacauga, Alabama. She joined The Plainsman in fall 2021.
Twitter: @emilycporch
